Sarah Palin has adopted a "clean and bold" font used by Barack Obama
for her official website, proving a hint to the tone of her rumoured 2012
presidential campaign.

The former Alaskan governor's website, SarahPac, makes extensive use of the Gotham font, which graphic experts say played a central role in communicating Mr Obama's reformist values in his successful run for the White House in 2008.

Typographer Simon Garfield, who wrote a book called Just My Type, told an audience at the Hay Festival that the fresh-looking font could subliminally encourage people to support Mrs Palin.

In a speech reported in The Times, he said: "I think you can make a strong argument to say it was a great help to Obama.

"Obviously, he was elected because he is who he is but the whole campaign was such a fantastically clear, consistent one that the typeface did its job.

"You had the message: 'Change. Hope. Yes we can.' The font did not change from when he announced his candidacy through his primaries, on television, online and in all the print advertisements.